Bleddyn ap Cynfyn

Bleddyn ap Cynfyn (1025-1073) was King of Gwynedd and Powys from 1063 to 1075, succeeding Gruffydd ap Llywelyn and preceding Trahaearn ap Caradog (Gwynedd) and Iowerth ap Bleddyn (Powys).

Biography
Bleddyn ap Cynfyn was the son of the Powysian nobleman Cynfyn ap Gwerstan, and he was the maternal grandson of Maredudd ab Owain of Dyfed. In 1061, Earl Harold Godwinson of Hereford invaded Wales and slew Gruffydd ap Llywelyn in battle, and Bleddyn and Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn (Gruffydd's half-brothers) were given control over Gwynedd and Powys. They swore themselves as vassals to King Edward the Confessor and took part in the Saxon resistance against the Norman invader William the Conqueror, joining Eadric the Wild, Edwin of Mercia, and Morcar of Northumbria's rebellions. At Mechain in 1069, Gruffydd's sons Maredudd ap Gruffydd and Idwal ap Gruffydd challenged Bleddyn's rule, and Rhiwallon was slain in the battle, although it ended with the deaths of both of Gruffydd's sons, and therefore resulted in a victory for Bleddyn. In 1073, Bleddyn was assassinated on the orders of Rhys ab Owain of Dyfed.